We'll Be Home For Christmas
by Glowing Insanity
Summary: A week away from Christmas break. Two kwamis stuck in Monaco after trying to find each other. Two frantic superheroes toying with the idea of seeking help from friends. And a certain mayor's daughter who's determined to find out what the heck is going on in class... and where's Ladybug and Cat Noir?
1. Chapter 1: Sleepless

**HI! This… is my first ever time writing for the Miraculous fandom, so I have no idea how this will go… ANYWAY, I'm gonna keep author's notes nice and simple (unless I have something to explain, which I don't exactly have at the moment), sooo happy reading!**

 **(I don't own Miraculous)**

* * *

 _ **Chapter 1 - Sleepless**_

Kwamis could sense if another was nearby, but that was as far as that power went. Sure, they could tell exactly which kwami it was, but never be able to identify the holder.

Tikki knew that since day one, all those years ago. But unlike her previous holder, who lived quite a distance away from their partner when they started their duties as a superhero, she knew that Plagg belonged to another student in Marinette's class. She just didn't know who.

It had bothered her for the past six months, and was frustrating to no end. Many a time had she wished that she was able to sense which student was the holder of the cat miraculous, and many a time she thought she'd finally figured it out. But each of those were eventually dismissed, after as little as an hour, depending on anything that was happening.

So, on a night where she for once couldn't sleep, Tikki slowly floated around Marinette's room in thought, thankful for the light of the full moon pouring through the window by the desk. She knew that going out to try and find Plagg was best to be done in the middle of the night, And since it was only half an hour ago that Marinette came back from her nightly patrol with Cat Noir, it was perfect timing.

There were some negatives of the idea. Hawk Moth had yet to strike in the dead of the night, and there was still little chance of it happening anyway. But Tikki still had no idea if it would ever happen, remembering that there were plenty of night attacks that'd happened over the past millennium or so. She didn't want to have to take chances, but also wanted to finally put her itching thoughts about where Plagg could be at ease.

Stopping by the desk window, she looked at it and contemplated just going out for a quick search when indistinct mumbling prompted her to fly back over to the bed. "Marinette?" she whispered, perching on the girl's knee.

"Tikki…" Marinette mumbled sleepily, rubbing her eyes. "Can't you… sleep?"

Tikki looked away for a few seconds, staring at the window again. "No," she replied, sighing. "For once," she added with a quiet giggle. "You…" she paused as she tried to gather her thoughts, "you… don't mind if I go out to try and find an old friend, do you?"

Blinking slowly, Marinette reached back to adjust her pillow before replying. "Not… not at all," she said, stifling a yawn. "Just… be back as… soon as possible?"

Tikki nodded and smiled, then looking to the window for a third time. "I hope he is out there," she muttered before zooming towards the window and phasing through it, squeaking as soon as a rush of cold air hit her. "I wonder if Marinette could try making a tiny jacket," she said to herself, shivering as she flew directly to the building directly opposite, from where she could easily spot a figure with unmistakeable cat ears still sitting on the roof of that building, just as a beep echoed out.

"One more minute…" she could hear him mutter.

Flying a little closer, Tikki stopped when she went over what Chat Noir had said in her head, confused for a second before realizing what he meant. "De-transform…" she muttered, looking back at the bakery. "This could be my chance… but… I must _not_ tell Marinette."

So for an almost painful minute, Tikki sat on the edge of the chimney nearby, waiting for Chat Noir to change back to his civilian self. But, when that minute was almost up, he suddenly extended his staff and leapt down to the street on the other side of the building, a bright green flash lighting up the area just a few seconds after.

Tikki gasped and zoomed over to the other side, peeping over the guttering and looking down to the street, spotting a familiar, blond-haired boy standing under a lamppost. "Is that… _Adrien_?" Tikki quietly exclaimed, putting a tiny hand over her mouth. "Oh dear…" She sighed, giggling.

Down below, Plagg, who'd landed in a garbage can, groaned as he pushed the banana peel off of his head. "Geez, suicidal much, kid!" he grumbled, crossing his arms. "You owe me a _lot_ of cheese for that."

"Plagg, come on, I wasn't thinking about it!" Adrien protested, glaring at the kwami as he bent down to re-tie his shoelaces. "I was just… thinking about Ladybug… and then I realized I wouldn't be able to get down."

Plagg only scoffed and rolled his eyes, then looking up as he suddenly saw a red blur fly across to the other building. "Tikki?" he muttered, cocking his head.

Finishing with his laces, Adrien stood up and looked over to Plagg, noticing that he was staring up at the building in front of them. "Come on, no time for stargazing, I've got a history test tomorrow," he said, walking over. "And… I hope Nino's still sleeping," he added in a quieter tone, looking to the side in worry. "Or if his brothers see that I'm gone…"

"Uh…" Plagg began, looking back down, "I… kinda saw a friend flying past," he replied, pointing up. "Ladybug's kwami. It's been a while," he explained quickly. "So… can I?"

Also looking up, Adrien tried to spot something whizzing past, but saw nothing, and presumed that the other kwami was out of sight. "Alright, I guess," he said, shrugging. "Just be back before morning, I've got extra camembert for your breakfast. You know where Nino's house is."

Eyes lighting up at the thought of extra camembert, Plagg nodded eagerly before zooming up to the top of the building, but to his surprise, he saw nothing. "Tikki?" he called out, looking around.

Several streets away, Tikki was speeding towards the Eiffel Tower, her mini mission accomplished, and wanting to just sit somewhere and enjoy the quiet night air for a few minutes. As soon as she got there, she went up to the lower viewing deck, seating herself on the edge of the railing. "This is going to be very hard to keep from Marinette," she said to herself, thinking about what happened earlier, then stopping in her thoughts. "It's been seventy-two years since I last saw Plagg, why didn't I stay behind to say hello?" she wondered aloud, sighing. "Maybe next time…"

After sitting there for ten minutes, Tikki considered going out to find Plagg again, but had second thoughts when snow started coming down. Looking up at the sky, she slowly lifted herself up and decided to head back home, suddenly starting to feel tiredness setting in as she got past the Trocadero. "I might be able to sleep now…" she mumbled, yawning as she reached the streets.

Having been zipping through the streets for the past ten minutes, Plagg eventually gave up on trying to find Tikki again, and grumbled when it started snowing. "Great," he muttered as the white flakes increased in numbers, rolling his eyes. "Whatever." He shrugged and turned back the way he came, yet stopping as he looked at the closest building, which was the bakery. "Huh, what's-her-name lives there," he remarked, flying closer to the top floor, almost immediately smelling something that had quite a distinct cookie tinge to it. "Maybe Tikki lives here too…" Frowning in thought, the kwami zoomed down to the bottom floor, phasing through the main door and entering the bakery.

And just as he did that, Tikki arrived at Marinette's balcony, quickly phasing through the hatch, sighing as soon as she got into the girl's warmer room. "That's better," she muttered, smiling. "Now…" she paused as she yawned for a third time, then floated around the bed, eventually noticing that Marinette was sound asleep, "where's the… old mitten?" she wondered, darting underneath the bed and spotting an old, pink woollen mitten lying on a white cushion. "That should be perfect," she said, slipping inside the mitten and lying down, not even noticing the small black thing whizzing into the room.

Plagg stopped by the chaise to look around for any signs of Tikki, pausing when he saw a half-eaten cookie on a smaller table, but dismissing it after a few seconds. "Meh, it's a bakery," he muttered, shrugging. "Of course it'll smell like cookies… but Tikki's still nearby…" Flying over to the window by the desk, Plagg immediately groaned as soon as he saw that the snow had picked up even more, along with the odd howling wind or two. "This was a bad idea," he said to himself, slapping his forehead in frustration. "Should have just gone back."

Now stuck in Marinette's room, Plagg looked around for somewhere to sleep, deciding that the cushions on the chaise were decent enough, and plopped himself down on one, spotting a woollen sweater draped over the back of the chaise. He pulled a sleeve closer and phased into it, sighing quietly as he made himself comfortable. "Oh boy, I hope they got cheese here," he said quietly.

As he stared up at the high roof, Plagg chuckled to himself as he thought about what could happen the next morning, meeting up back at either Nino's house or at the school with a most probably ticked off Adrien being one of those things.

But something completely different happened instead.

* * *

 **So how's that for a start? I know there's not really a lot that happens in this first chapter, but the plot will start to kick in next chapter.**

 **I'll try to stick to a schedule for this (RIP me), but I really want to have this finished by Christmas! It is a Christmas fic, after all.**

 **Thanks for reading, and until next time!**


	2. Chapter 2: A Boxy Situation

**Whoops, this was supposed to be up a couple of days ago... better late than never, hahaha :D**

 **Anyway, recap:**

 **\- Tikki knows who Cat Noir is  
**

 **\- Plagg and Tikki tried to find each other  
**

 **\- Plagg spent the night in Marinette's room**

 **What next? Read to find out!**

* * *

 _ **Chapter 2 - A Boxy Situation**_

The trapdoor to the room closing loudly was enough to wake Plagg up, and just before he opened his mouth to complain, he shut it again as soon as he saw Marinette standing several feet away, looking at something on her phone. Figuring he was yet to be spotted, he slunk further into the sleeve of the sweater, gulping slightly. "Very bad idea," he muttered under his breath.

"Marinette, is the parcel ready to be sent to Estelle?" a voice called from downstairs.

Looking up from her phone, Marinette blanked for a few seconds before gasping. "Parcel… oh, Estelle's sweater! I completely forgot!" she exclaimed quietly, looking to the woollen sweater on the back of her chaise. "Uh, yes Maman!" she called back in reply, then hurriedly grabbing the sweater and folding it up, running over to place it in a box with a smaller box of cookies at the bottom, just as she saw her mother poke her head through the trapdoor out of the corner of her eye.

Inside the sweater, Plagg took everything in him not to yell out and say he was in there, for he knew that the golden rule meant he had to keep his existence secret from others, even Marinette. Despite that, he could still sense Tikki nearby, and suspected that the girl might just be Ladybug. But he didn't want to risk it.

Tikki slowly peeped over the lip of the purse, gasping quietly when she could see Plagg half-phased through the sweater while Marinette was looking away. She went to alert her holder about Plagg, but stopped herself as soon as she saw Sabine climbing into the room, and gulped as she sank down to the bottom of the purse. "This is not good," she muttered, creasing her brow in worry. "But when did he get here?"

It all happened very fast. As soon as Plagg went back inside the sweater, Marinette closed the box and went to grab tape from her desk. Deciding that something needed to be worked out, Tikki zoomed out of Marinette's purse, hiding behind several things before reaching the box and phasing inside. Just as she did that, Marinette taped shut the top of the box, then turned it round to double-check she'd put the address on it.

Squeaking as the box was turned over and over, Tikki grabbed a hold of a clump of the sweater to stop herself from bumping and rolling around. "Oh dear," she muttered, frantically looking around in the near-darkness. "Why don't all of us have night vision?"

"Tikki?" Plagg's muffled voice came from deep within the sweater, phasing out of it and lying down on top of it.

Feeling the box moving again, Tikki sighed quietly and sat down in the corner of the box, deciding to ask the biggest question on her mind first. "Does… Adrien know you're here?"

"Sorta- wait, _what_? You know?" Plagg sat up, hitting his head on the top of the box along the way, but ignoring it completely. "Are you crazy?"

"I'm sorry! I just… couldn't sleep last night, so I went outside and saw Cat Noir on the building opposite and…" Tikki trailed off, then starting to giggle. "This is a real coincidence though, I hear that Adrien has a crush on Ladybug?"

Plagg scoffed at the question. "Pfft, the kid won't shut up about her," he replied, rolling his eyes. "And you know I hate any lovey-dovey stuff unless it involves cheese."

"You haven't changed a _bit_ ," Tikki told him, shaking her head, then looking up as she heard voices outside of the box, one being very unfamiliar to her. "Always getting into tight spots just like this. That man's most probably a courier worker or postman. Now look how bad the problem's gotten."

Plagg sighed and lay back down, staring up at the top of the box. "I wasn't expecting for _this_ to happen," he retorted. "Just be glad that Trixx isn't around this time to nearly blow our cover."

Tikki opened her mouth to say more, but shut it as she realized Plagg was right. "Yes," she said slowly. "Whatever happens now would be a dozen times worse if Trixx was around. And we have no time for any pranks."

Outside, the courier driver tossed the box into the back of the van, ignoring the two squeaky yelps that echoed out from inside it. "Anything else, miss?"

"Uh, no, that's all!" Marinette replied, giggling slightly before gasping as she saw the time on her phone. "Oh no, class starts in three minutes!" she exclaimed, hurriedly throwing her backpack over her shoulder. "Gotta go, thanks, bye!" she yelled as she sprinted off towards the school, slapping her purse shut without even realizing that Tikki wasn't inside. And, at the same time, the courier driver got into the van and started it up, then driving off.

Having heard every word Marinette said, along with the van starting up, Tikki was looking to the side in despair, then shaking her head and turning back to wherever Plagg was in the darkness. "How are they gonna… find us again?" she wondered aloud.

"Eh, I dunno," Plagg replied with a shrug. "But what was a coincidence?"

Tikki stared ahead for a few seconds before remembering what she'd said earlier. "Oh!" she exclaimed, giggling all over again. "Just… Marinette _does_ have quite a crush on Adrien."

Plagg shot up as soon as Tikki had finished talking, then staring confusedly at her before erupting into a fit of cackles. 'Oh boy, I can't wait to see their faces when they find _that_ out," he chortled, slowly lying down again and rolling onto his side. "That's the best thing I've heard in years."

"Wait, but… they can't know! Unless we're…" Tikki's words fell flat as soon as she realized that there was a high chance that Marinette and Adrien would find out about each other's alter egos if they were to try and find them, "unless we're stuck in a situation like this," she finished, sighing.

"Exactly," Plagg said with a nod, then groaning upon realizing he hadn't had breakfast, and how hungry he was. "I want _cheese_ ," he complained, sticking his bottom lip out.

"I'm sure you'll want some cheese with that… _whine_ ," Tikki said, giggling as Plagg frowned and glared at her… which she couldn't see, but just knew he would be doing exactly that. "I didn't hear that from Trixx, before you ask. That Alix girl. To Chloe, I think."

"Eh," was all that Plagg said in response as he curled up and decided to try and sleep again, knowing that it could be a while before he got some cheese.

Sitting back and leaning her head against one side of the box, Tikki looked at the small crack of light running across the small area, which Plagg was most likely on the other side on. She sighed and looked up, quietly going over the situation once again. She was stuck in a box with Plagg, in a courier van. They could get a chance to escape, but only if the courier driver was to stop and get out of the van for any reason. And of course, Plagg was hungry.

"Is there food in other boxes?" Plagg mumbled from the other side of the box.

Tikki looked behind her in thought, then slowly phasing her head out of the box to have a look around, seeing nothing much other than… well, more boxes. And a window, but she was too low down to see what the van was driving past, other than the odd tree or tall building. "Hmm…" she said quietly, then ducking back inside the box. "I have no idea, but… we'll wait for a stopping point for a chance to look around," she replied with a slight nod. "Now how did you end up in Marinette's room?"

Plagg groaned again and turned over, sighing in exasperation as he glared at the side of the box. "I smelled cookies, so I thought you lived at the bakery too," he said, looking back at Tikki. "But then the snow got worse, and you know I hate snow and wind combinations as much as Pollen hates heavy rain." He went back to glaring, this time down at the sweater. "The sweater was just _so warm_ …" Plagg trailed off, sighing again. "And all those cushions…"

Tikki could only sigh for what was quite possibly the millionth time, and lay down to rest, staring up at the crack where the light was poking through. All she could think of was that Marinette was most likely panicking right at that minute, unless she still hadn't bothered to check her purse.

Tikki eventually fell asleep, mainly due to thinking too hard about the situation at hand, and woke up quite some time later to see that the crack of light had disappeared, taking note that it was most probably dark now.

"We're twenty minutes away from Monaco," Plagg said from the other side of the box, having noticed her stirring. "I'm over the shock of it now."

Slowly sitting up, Tikki sighed out of pure relief as she finally knew where they were… wait a second. "We're… nearly at _Monaco_?" she exclaimed.

* * *

 **Next chapter will go a few hours back just to cover Marinette and Adrien's reactions to finding out that their kwamis are gone. And then back to present time for some crazy kwami escapades.**

 **Anyway, thanks for reading, and until next time!**


	3. Chapter 3: Freak Out

**Alright, let's get on with it!**

 **This chapter is... possibly a bit confusing, because it does a couple of time skips. It starts off at lunchtime in Paris, then goes to the evening in Monaco, and back to just after lunch in Paris.**

 **That aside, recap!**

 **\- Plagg got stuck in a box (and Tikki joined him)**

 **\- Plagg knows about the crushes situation and thinks it's hilarious**

 **\- The kwamis are now in Monaco**

 **What next? Who knows? I do, and you will in a few minutes!**

* * *

 _ **Chapter 3 - Freak Out**_

Marinette eventually did find that her purse was in fact completely empty, but immediately thought that Tikki had decided to stay home for the morning, which she had done a couple of times in the past, and promised herself to check on her when she went back for lunch. So when she went up to her room, she was surprised to not receive a greeting of some form as soon as she climbed through the trapdoor. "Tikki?" Marinette called out, completely oblivious to where the kwami actually was. "Where are you?"

Marinette spent the next five minutes looking around her room for Tikki, the search slowly getting more thorough as time went by. But after checking on her balcony and having no luck, she started to panic. "Oh no, oh no…" she squeaked, lying back on her bed and staring up at the balcony hatch. "What- what if there's an akuma attack today? How do I tell Cat Noir… or do I tell him? And…" Marinette looked to the wall, yelping as she remembered something else, "and there's the short film competition, and what if Adrien's in my group? I'd need Alya's help!" she cried. "Ugh, what if I'm in a group with _Chloe_?" She pulled a face at the thought, then groaning and rolling over.

"Marinette, lunch!" her mother called from downstairs.

Looking to the open trapdoor, Marinette sighed and sat up, slowly edging herself towards the foot of her bed. "Tikki might have… gone out for some fresh air…" she muttered, looking back to the hatch in thought.

* * *

"Plagg!" Adrien yelled from the second storey of his bedroom, where he could see every inch of the room. "Come on, really no time for sleeping!"

Earlier that morning, Adrien had tried to look for Plagg at Nino's house, but it was hard with Nino and his brothers constantly going to and from their bedrooms and downstairs. So at that point, he'd only presumed that Plagg had gone back home, possibly being closer to it once the snowstorm hit, and went to school as per usual. Arriving home just ten minutes ago, Adrien had spent the entire time looking all through his bedroom, with it so far being totally fruitless.

After checking the bathroom twice over, Adrien sighed as he stared helplessly out the window, trying to think of all other places where Plagg could possibly be. "Maybe he… found cheese somewhere else… and fell asleep wherever that is…" he said slowly, trying to think of more positive things. "Hey, the short film competition starts this afternoon," he remarked, looking over his shoulder for what seemed to him was no reason at all. "Uh… maybe Plagg will be back tonight."

But of course, both Tikki and Plagg were very far away from Paris.

* * *

"… _huge crash has occurred just short of the Rue Grimaldi and Rue Suffren Reymond intersection…_ "

Plagg groaned quietly as he heard those words on the radio, then phasing back into the box. "Okay, soooo there was a car crash," he explained to Tikki, who nodded.

"So that's why the van's… not moving," she said, popping out of the box herself to listen in on the radio, but the traffic announcement had just finished, and an ad was playing. "Never mind…" she muttered as she phased back inside. "Well we… can't exactly just stay here the whole time."

"No duh," Plagg scoffed in reply, leaning back. "And it's mostly dark, so no problem in getting out." And without warning, he immediately phased out of the box and out of the van, zooming over to the nearest building.

"But why now?" Tikki asked, waiting for a few seconds before realizing that Plagg had gone. "Plagg!" she called, phasing out into the open. "Where did he go?" She flew down the street, stopping outside what appeared to be a cheese shop and peering inside through the window. "No…" she muttered, sighing as she zoomed across the street, stopping briefly to listen to the Christmas music blaring out of the small gift shop there. "Oh, my favourite thing about Christmas…" she said, giggling as she twirled to the beat. "I've got no time to listen, I need to find Plagg." Tikki quickly had a look inside the shop before flying up above the buildings to get a better view.

Meanwhile, Plagg had strayed further away, and was heading towards a building with lots of bright lights and interesting sounds coming from inside. As he entered, he flew up high to look around, spotting slot machines situated all around the room. "Oh boy, a casino," he remarked quietly, looking towards the doorway to the next room. "Do they have cheese in this place?" he wondered, flying back down and through the doorway.

After zipping in and out of room after room, and almost getting spotted by several people, Plagg eventually found a restaurant, and slipped along the side to the kitchen, where he almost immediately caught a whiff of sweet, sweet camembert. "That's more like it…" he mumbled with a dreamy sigh as he floated in, yet having to quickly duck under a bench as a kitchen hand entered, coming back out a few seconds later. "Now where is it?" Plagg zoomed out and phased into an empty pot, poking his head out and looking around for where the cheese could be. "Too many people in here," he grumbled as he phased back out, hiding behind and phasing into several pots, pans and containers, until he got to what appeared to be a rubbish bin. And lo and behold, there was a perfectly good round of camembert sitting on the top. "Oh, yes," he declared, flying over and grabbing the cheese, taking a bite out of it and sitting on the edge of the bin.

"Mouse! In the back bin!" someone shouted, prompting Plagg to look up in disgust.

"I am not a mouse," he muttered under his breath, zooming up to the roof and flying along the edge of it.

"Where'd it go?" another person shrieked.

Briefly looking down, Plagg shrugged as he went back through to the main dining room, taking to the walls as he ducked through all the rooms and exited the casino. "Phew…" he breathed, looking back. "Hey, where'd TIkki go?"

"There you are!"

"Huh?" Plagg looked up to see Tikki sitting on a ledge, two cookies sitting next to her. "Oh, yeah, I'm here," he said with a chuckle. "Got cheese though, thank _goodness_." He flew up to sit on the ledge, on the other side of TIkki's cookies. "I see you got food too."

"Well, there was an unmanned bakery, and these had been left at a table by someone," Tikki said, gesturing to the cookies. "And I just… couldn't resist!" She giggled, then grabbing a cookie and taking a bite of it. "I wonder how Marinette's doing.

* * *

"And… done!" Marinette declared as she pinned up the last of eight Christmas garlands across the front of Chloe and Sabrina's desk, then stepping back to look at the desks, each of them with a garland across the front and a mini Christmas tree standing in the middle, and one for Mrs Bustier's desk as well. "That looks so cool!" she exclaimed, squealing. "I'm so glad Mr Damocles let us do this!"

"I know, nice one!" Alya said from next to her as the girls high-fived each other. "Oh, just in time, everyone else is back."

Marinette bolted back to her seat, just as the door opened and the rest of her classmates started filing in, some aweing at the new decorations.

Though lunch was more than stressful, Marinette had momentarily forgotten about Tikki going AWOL, and went back to school ten minutes early to set up the decorations with Alya. But since the rest of the class got back, it was time to announce groups for the short film competition.

Miss Bustier dug her hand into the small jar of names, pulling out two at once, then grabbing a third and putting the three slips of paper on the table. "Our first group is Nino, Rose and Sabrina!" she announced, then writing the names on the board.

"Ugh, come on," Marinette could hear Chloe mutter, and giggled slightly.

"And our second group…" Miss Bustier began, pulling another three names out, but dropping two of them on the floor, "whoops… uh, Marinette," she continued, then bending down to pick up the the other two. "Adrien…"

Marinette clapped her hands over her mouth and squealed quietly. She was in Adrien's group. Adrien's group! She felt as if she was on cloud nine… until Miss Bustier got back up.

"And Chloe!"

 _Oh_.

* * *

 **Oh boy, here we go. Things are gonna happen... heh.**

 **Thanks for reading, and until next time!**


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